HOUSTON — The Texans' destiny remains in their hands. Division title. Home-field advantage in the postseason. All that good stuff is still there for the taking. Nothing was lost by what happened Monday night ... except face.

But there's cold comfort in this given how suddenly vulnerable Houston's defense appears, particularly the “back end” — football parlance — of it. Whatever route the road to the Super Bowl follows, does it matter in the least where playoff games are played if Tom Brady and/or Peyton Manning are driving the bus?

Or Aaron Rodgers, who well could be waiting for the AFC's survivor in New Orleans?

“We've got to find a way to weather the storm. It's a tough thing to swallow if you're a defensive back,” strong safety Danieal Manning said Thursday when asked about the 800-pound gorilla in the locker room, those 24 touchdown passes they've allowed in 13 games. Only five teams have permitted more. Four of them are out of playoff contention.

That's also eight more than the Texans surrendered over 16 games last season.

“Teams are finding ways to get the ball into the end zone through the air,” Manning said. “We've got to find a way to minimize that. Right now, we've got to get back to the drawing board. We can look at our mistakes, but we also have (to remember) why we've been successful in the past.”

Except there's a certain inescapable reality to the Texans' plight. They've been playing short-handed since the fifth game when their most multi-skilled linebacker, Brian Cushing, got cut down, and they've been routinely chewed up by some of the best arms — and minds — in the business.

Rodgers (six), Brady (four) and Peyton Manning (three) have accounted for more than half those scoring strikes. Young Matthew Stafford threw for a pair of touchdowns, too, on a 441-yard Thanksgiving afternoon when the Texans needed overtime to escape the free-falling Lions' clutches.

“If you watch us over and over and over, we can be predictable,” Danieal Manning admitted. “They see weaknesses, where they can attack. We've got to get those things off the tape.”

How?

“If I had all those (answers),” he said, “I should be the coach, not the player.”

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips contended the Texans won't be well-served by wringing their hands over past failures or unfixable shortcomings.

“When you have bad game,” Phillips said, “you've got to bounce back. The good teams do that. The bad teams don't. Any loss is tough to swallow. We hadn't lost for a month and a half, two months (before Monday night). All losses wear on you, but you can't dwell on any of them. I'm concerned about our team winning the next ballgame.”